Disease are transmitted through contact. Contact is separated into the categories of direct contact like a person coughing on you and indirect contact like a person not washing their hands after blowing their nose and touching something. Most pandemics start off in one area and infect huge areas through travel because when you go to new places, you meet new people and therefore have contact. When feeling ill, do not go for vacation to other countries or if you get sick in another country, try to limit contact with loved ones. The best way to prevent pandemics is to wash you hands and yourself as often as practical or whenever you have contact with others. To stay safe in the wake of a worldwide epidemic do not touch, do not travel, and clean often.

The what's what in what makes you sick:

Disease: a medical condition that has specific symtoms and signs.

Infection: sickness caused by micro-organisms

Plague: the specific disease that caused the Black Plague

Epidemic: occurs when a new version of an old disease is worse than expected

Pandemic: when an epidemic spreads to other countries or continents and affects a substantial amount of people.